Don't Wake Me
by Linzah
Summary: An account of Rey and Ben Solo's connection shortly before the events that took place in TFA. Rey has always been haunted by visions and a voice, but lately they had taken over her thoughts and dreams - an adolescent force bond that had always been there.


**Author's Note: My account on Rey's experiences with the voice she describes in the novelizations. I've formed the opinion that this was the first sign of a Force bond developing between them. The older they became, the more the Force strengthened their connection, eventually leading to them meet and inevitably link their fates to one another.**

 **Don't Wake Me**

Rey stretched her stiff limbs and yawned widely, her small alarm beeping feebly beside her hammock on the floor. She sighed in frustration before slamming her pillow over her face.

Grumbling she stretched an arm down, feeling for the small device in the dark.

 _Damn thing must have fallen again_ , she thought as she groped around the dusty floor beneath her. Head still filled with sleep, she barely had time to register as she tipped too far on her side and promptly slipped out of the hammock, hitting the ground hard.

Cursing, she rolled over and nearly crushed the small, blinking device in her hands as they closed around it. She checked herself and brought it close to her face, making sure she hadn't done any serious damage. It had been a lucky find for her a few years back. It helped her rise before sunlight spilled over the sandy dunes that surrounded her.

Turning off the tiny machine's pitiful cry, she stretched once more before reaching over to switch on the lamp that sat above her, flooding the small space with a yellow glow. It was important for her to have an early start. With the sun still sleeping below the horizon she could navigate her speeder through the cool morning air, savoring the goosebumps the wind left on her skin.

As she rode on toward her next scavenge point she pondered over her increasingly restless sleep. It was true that ever since she was small the simple act of falling asleep proved to be difficult for her. Most nights she lay awake long after settling down for the night. Longing for a life filled with people who cared for her. But lately she had lost count of how often she found herself launched back into reality, thrashing or calling out until she sat upright, eyes wide, sweating and breathing hard. Her brows knit together as she concentrated on the fragmented pieces left from her most recent dream.

She had heard that voice again.

For as long as she can remember that voice had been with her. It would come and go, sometimes during the day she could catch whispers of it, but lately it had taken over her dreams. As strange of a phenomena as it was, it was admittedly comforting. But frustration would often get the best of her, angry that she could never recall who it belonged to or recount the exact words. It was mostly unpredictable. Snarling in anger in some moments and calmly carrying on in others.

And then on very rare occasions she could catch a note of gentleness in it's tone. It was all so strange. And she had no one to talk to about it.

She immediately shut the painful thought away and leaned forward on her speeder, urging it to pick up speed, telling herself it was the cold air whipping at her face that caused her vision to blur.

* * *

After inhaling her dinner and readying her equipment for tomorrow's haul, Rey took a moment to tend to her aching limbs. For once her body and mind screamed for rest. She laid back in the hammock massaging her left bicep. The sensation felt wonderful and she groaned softly as knuckles kneaded sore muscle. Closing her eyes, she began to wonder what it would feel like to be touched with a hand other than her own. A partner to hold her and run their fingers softly through her hair. Plant small kisses on her forehead and cheeks as they wrapped themselves around one another.

A quick thought turned into a wonderfully warm fantasy. Rey smiled softly as her mind slipped further toward sleep. She continued to imagine what it would mean to have someone dear to her. So close and calming.

Rey could almost feel what it was like to have two muscular arms wrap themselves around her and pull her close. How deliciously intimate it could be for a pair of large hands to glide across her back, exploring the skin on her bare shoulders.

Sighing in contentment she turned her face and felt it meet with something solid. She could spot the skin of a man's chest through her lashes. Rey's eyes widened at the realization that someone was holding her.

Fingertips trailed up her side and her eyes fluttered closed again, savoring the feeling of being touched. Carefully and oh so slowly, she let her hands run up the length of the man's back, feeling muscles and strong joints beneath them. Her lips parted in surprise as her hands reached up and closed around soft waves of hair. She could hear deep and heavy breathing as she buried her face into his warmth. It was like nothing she had ever felt before.

A heavy leg pushed gently between hers and she wrapped herself closer to him.

Inhaling deeply Rey found she loved the smell of him. His scent was clean and free from the usual smell of metal and grime that she was so used to breathing in.

She smiled and nuzzled against him again. A soft sound of delight sprang up from her throat when he responded by pressing his lips to the top of her head.

She let her fingertips play with the ends of his hair, pinning the silky strands against his neck and exploring the softness of the skin there. The man sighed with pleasure in reply and she considered looking up into his face. But she was too comfortable resting her cheek against him, hearing the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

Her own pulse quickened as his calloused hands traveled from her waist and stopped at the back of her head. The three signature buns she always wore were gently loosened until her hair fell freely around her shoulders. She nearly cried out with joy as he worked his fingers from the base of her neck toward the crown of her head, nails gently raking along her scalp.

Something like an electric current sparked and ran hot through her veins. It was the tender touch she had always craved. It was pure ecstasy.

A new, unfamiliar feeling bubbled in her stomach as he pressed himself flush against her. His head dipped lower and she smiled as his hot breath blew against her ear. Still she kept her eyes closed. Soaking up every feeling. Every touch. Every sound.

Suddenly he spoke, a deep rumbling sound from his chest. And her eyes snapped open.

That voice.

The very same voice that haunts her daydreams, and more recently her slumber. She jerked her head back to look him full in the face, but he had already started to fade into a shadow. Falling backward and away from her.

Rey cried out, arms and hands outstretched. Reaching into the darkness that was beginning to fill the space where he once was.

*BANG*

Rey looked around wildly and found herself once again on the dusty floor of the crumbling AT-AT. Breathing loudly and aching from the fall.

Bringing her hands to her face she whimpered at the sudden arrival of reality. Her dream already fading from her memory.

She fought desperately to memorize what it had felt like to be held. To be wanted by someone. But the safe feeling of his arms was quickly slipping away from her.

Frustrated and exhausted, she spotted the alarm near her on the ground. This time she picked up the small device and chucked it hard, feeling satisfied as she heard it shatter against the wall. She knew regret would come later, but all she wanted to do at the moment was lay still and recall his embrace.

The hammock squeaked as she climbed back in and curled around her pillow. Today she would allow herself to sleep in. Squeezing her eyes shut she fought to remember anything she could about the man that had held her so sweetly and securely. Like she meant something to him, like a lover. She quietly cursed at herself for not looking into his face sooner.

But the harder she fought to remember the more quickly everything seemed to slip away, like trying to hold water in her hands. Rey sighed in disappointment.

Then suddenly, blazing across her mind, a memory came bright and powerful.

She could remember two deep brown eyes looking back at her as they disappeared into the shadows. A mixture of amazement and confusion reflecting in them.

* * *

 **The Interrogation**

Rey's anger flared and she lashed out, "That happens when you're being hunted by a creature in a mask".

She tensed as the cloaked figure stood abruptly. A violent reaction was what she had expected, judging by the current of dark energy that rolled off of him. But he did not grab for his weapon, or even shout at her. In one swift movement his hands came up and he removed his mask.

Rey blinked several times. The towering figure was no creature at all. Just a man.

And then she saw them. Those eyes. Brown and burning with intensity. Her thoughts tumbled around one another as she struggled to regain her composure. Her focus and anger faltered as a memory tugged at her sub-consciousness. A confusing sense of recognition crept in.

And then his voice cut through the silence, identifying her as a scavenger. The condescending tone tore at her pride.

Any concentration Rey had managed to conjure was undone by the insult. The memory faded back into the abyss, where many of her dreams and nightmares stayed hidden, buried under the layers of countless days spent alone on Jakku.

 **Author's Note: Stay tuned for Kylo Ren/Ben's version of the dream!**


End file.
